I still have zero faith that this is some kind of sign of things to come. I can easily see this team going out and losing four of it’s next five or something like that. Just because they still don’t have any identity as a group.

YFBB put it best when he said above: “They looked good on offense because they were hitting shots, and have guys who can score one-on-one.” That’s the issue, was this just a case of a team with talent making shots? Or, is it that the team is starting to actually play well together? Who the hell knows, but I get the feeling that tomorrow will be a crappy day and the Bulls will resort to the same unorganized, lethargic road play that we’ve seen from them in the past. Why should we think this time will be any different?

Your friendly WetBlanket may be entirely correct, but I still wish I’d logged off tonight before reading the assessment. Too soon for a reality check – I’d like to enjoy the win a little longer, especially with a road game coming up in less than 24 hours!

They were without Garnett, we were without Deng

Even

Heh

that when the Bulls beat a quality team that I start seeing good things to come, but that usually follows with a disappointing loss from a really bad team. So I’m gonna keep my expectations for these Bulls low for now, that way I won’t get too disappointed and hopefully they will continue to play well. Let’s just hope for some consistency and maybe a win on the road against the lowly but improving Thunder.

for hinrichs reverse layup. I havent seen the game, but pretty much everyone i talked to about the game told me about that….had an easy layup, tried to do a reverse, and screwed it up….I checked the gamethread however and was very surprised and happy by the sudden appreciation by hinrich (oddly enough alot of it was coming from andrew….am i in the twilight zone?)

 I know its mainly because hinrich is playing a pretty limited role on the bulls and luol deng has been getting 100% of the hate (not actual stat) of blogabull, not to mention salmons has been playing stellar and he and gordon are more than providing enough offense (so hinrich doesnt have that burden) but still ill take the hinrich pros coming from the site (though i already know a trade is eventual, especially with rose not playing as well as he was, early in the season paxson will probably get rid of hinrich to focus on roses development)….i know todays victory would be a disaster if kg was playing, i know rose not playing well could be bad later on, i know the “hey hinrich is a good fit on this team” is a temporary phase, but still…tonight…im happy!

Anyone who has a sense of interpersonal skills and what makes a leader could peg the man right away. He just doesn’t have the kutzpa or cojones to get the job done. Look at spolstra, just seeing him on the sideline makes me somewhat confident (even if his x’s and o’s aren’t there). At this point getting a coach that can connect to the players by getting them to respect him is all the bulls could ask for.

They were even able to trot out a 4-guard (Rose, Gordon, Hinrich, Salmons)

Salmons seemed to have been playing the 3 most of the game

he is a mascot with a padded bench chair.

confusingly fun game for two odd rosters…one due to injuries, the other – not so much. Between this game and the miami one, I have some motivation to watch a few more bulls games this year/week.

was when the celtics announcers were like “the celtics are doing something amazing here…” and they were up 91-90. what exactly were they doing???

"Brad and John Salmons really helping you guys out there I see…I didn’t know John Salmons could play that well within a team concept but if he can than you guys absolutely ripped us off. "

i messaged him back and asked him if he had ever seen the bulls’ offense and then said well once the bulls get one i suppose we’ll see how salmons really fits in a team concept. :)

His offense has a lot of indicators that reveal what kind of shot he’s trying to create for himself, but when he focuses on getting to the rim he’s getting his man on his shoulder or hip and able to get fouled or get past this and finish. I loved that he was taking Ray Allen to the cup in the 2nd half.

Defensively, I thought Salmons was great on Pierce in the first half using a bunch of tricks to game Pierce into free throwing begging through forced shots. Pierce was debating with the officials throughout the first half. In the 2nd Salmons’ effective defense went away. Rivers changed the offense so Pierce was getting it at the free throw line and creating whatever he wanted. This put Salmons in one on one defense in the middle of the court whereas Salmons had been effective when defending Pierce on one side of the floor or the other.

What Salmons also did last night, but did not make the extra pass, was make Ben Gordon almost wide open on every possession. Gordon’s man was constantly rotating around or cheating down to stop the penetration. The Celtics clearly could have used their low post bigs like Powe and Garnett that will merely draw the charge here, but the lack of them left the lane open for Salmons to finish or a lane to feed a wide open Gordon.

My expectations for this team are moot at this point until we can win on the road with the new revamped roster. I’d like to have Deng, but if’s not going to go I think we need a lot more defensive intensity at the SG and SF position to be competitive on the road.

Depleted yes, but this is our first W against Boston since they acquired Garnett and Allen.

But he made the steal of the night and block of the night for NBA TV

He did miss some open shots on the first half, though… But, in the end, he had a nice game.

"There were a lot of six footers out there," noted, who finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds. "If I can’t get rebounds against six footers, it’s really time for me to retire."

Via Sam Smith

"The technical on which I got thrown out was the most unprofessional technical by a ref I’ve ever had," said Rivers, who isn’t particularly prone to exaggeration. "He stood there and goaded me and goaded me and stared at me. Look at the film. I actually walked away. He asked me, ‘Where do you want the ball? And I said, ‘Ask them,’ talking about our players. That’s my right to say that, and I walked away. He stood there and stared me down and stared me down and goaded me until I turned around and said, ‘What?’ That’s when I got thrown out of the game. In a three-point game. Think about that. Think about that play, that Bill Kennedy made. That is the most unprofessional tech I’ve ever had".

Yeah, everything can be use to explain a loss. What he forgot to say was that the Celtics are not that good without KG. Take him out of that team, and I bet they lose on the first round of the playoffs against Detroit or Philly

i think that everyone had a positive impact on the game, even vinny. vinny i think finally won a game employing his coaching tactics. i thought the start we got off to with tyrus doing what he should do all the time was great for the team. noah was soild when he was on the floor (aside from the jumoer he took, which lead to a 3 by pierce and allen). BG seemed like he could have had a better game if he was caught for those fouls early. but he was great in the 3rd, which was when the game was slipping away from us. rose angered me all through the game until the 4th, when he just abused whoever was on him. his passes were on the money and even got some foul calls on his way to the basket. one play i thought he phased through pierce, i didnt think it was possible to jump in the air and pretty much glide to the left while in the air. salmons was too good. his D on pierce ealry was good and scored at will with a variety of shots. miller was awesome. we were getting killed on the offensive boards but in the 4th him and rose were what won us the game. kirk was great off the bench, espceially on defense. the block from behind on house, and fast break steal from pierce from under the basket, and another block on rondo which led to a bucket for salmons. and tim thomas shot the ball but also posted up and was effective the way he can be. we just need to string it all up together for the rest of the games. tonight i think stopping durant is all it will take. im looking for tyrus to be on him like he did with LBJ.

Tyrus went bananas, Rose stepped up in the 4th, Miller is awesome. That’s about it, prepare for aggravation tonight.

Last friday a friend of mine asked me, “hinrich isnt that good, has he even ever crossed anyone over?” to which i replied sure he has, so my friend who wanted to see this supposed crossover went on youtube with me and we tried to find a hinrich crossover, finding instead several videos of hinrich BEING crossed over. And now i hear hinrich crossed over rajon rondo, the supposed best defensive pg (way over rated if you ask me) in the league. Not only that he fakes out another dude with a ball fake which (depending on what he does and how) might be a move i use constantly myself…..and i cant find any clips of this….man i wish i hadnt missed yesterdays game…. :(

this?